State of Alaska Department of Revenue Reduces Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,785 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 473 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.06% of Badger Meter worth $3,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the third quarter worth approximately $262,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 14.3% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,869 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,650,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the third quarter worth approximately $289,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 1,016.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $224,885.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.75.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $204.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.04, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $136.31 and a 1 year high of $230.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $210.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.63.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives.